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The Old Country Newsletter – Så Byggdes Sverige
Your Weekly Newsletter from Sweden!
Philip G
November 14, 2025
Good morning!
It’s Friday, November 14.
The clock ticks faster now,
and Hannes must set out on new roads.
Across the strait, Denmark calls to him,
as do the baskets shaped by generations before him.
For over a year he gave his time freely,
sharing stories, context, and connection from Sweden to America.
There are few higher purposes than that.
Now he returns to the basket craft of his forebears,
to the forests of Västergötland,
to carry the woven legacy onward.
Farväl for now, Hannes.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Phil
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Word of the week
ORDENTLIGT [or-DENT-leet]
properly; thoroughly; neatly.
Biden Quietly Urged Caution on Sweden and Finland’s NATO Bid, Andersson Reveals
Attribution: Yle
Sweden’s former prime minister says the White House privately signaled that talk of NATO expansion should cool down in the chaotic early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In her new book Helhjärtat, Social Democratic Party leader and former Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson shares an anecdote that hadn’t surfaced publicly — until now. According to Andersson, then-President Joe Biden urged Finland’s leadership to “hold your horses” as Sweden and Finland considered accelerating their discussions about joining NATO after Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine.
As Andersson tells it, the message reached her during a hurried trip to Helsinki shortly after the invasion. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö had just met Biden in Washington, and the U.S. position, she writes, was clear: cool the public talk of membership for the moment. The White House reportedly felt the situation was too volatile and difficult to assess, and wanted both Nordic nations to keep a lower profile while events were still unfolding.
That guidance led Andersson to adopt a more cautious public posture in the initial weeks — even as internal government work on a potential application continued at full speed. She stresses that the hesitation was tactical, not ideological, and says the episode is only now being shared because Sweden is safely inside the alliance.
Andersson says she doesn’t expect major political fallout from the revelation. “Now we are members of NATO — otherwise I wouldn’t have written about it,” she notes.
Postcard from the North
Treriksröset
In other news
🗳️ Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson said she finds Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch’s recent comments “very interesting,” after Busch stated she had not ruled out supporting Andersson as prime minister. Busch noted that the two leaders are now closer politically and that she wants to enable broader agreements in key national issues. Andersson praised Busch for becoming a more pragmatic and solution-oriented politician and reiterated that she is willing to cooperate with all parties except the Sweden Democrats.
💬 Finland’s nationalist Finns Party has shifted its stance on the Swedish language, no longer viewing it as an adversary but accepting it as the country’s second national language, according to a new draft strategy obtained by Hufvudstadsbladet. The party now identifies English as the main threat, warning that it could eventually erase both Finnish and Swedish from the world stage. The new position has not yet been formally approved, but senior party members expect it to pass with few or no changes.
🕯️ TV4’s Kalla fakta reports that the woman murdered in Nordanstig on September 20 was 47-year-old ambulance nurse Helena Löfgren, who had worked in emergency medical care for 27 years. She was fatally attacked during a call-out by a man who had been repeatedly reported by ambulance staff for threatening behavior, including saying he “felt the urge to kill.” The same man had also assaulted one of her colleagues with a baseball bat days earlier, and he is now in custody on suspicion of murder.
Departing Center Party Leader Activates Record Payout as She Plans Her Next Move
Attribution: Omni
Anna-Karin Hatt says she’s “grateful” for the chance to reset as she prepares to collect up to 1.6 million kronor in transition compensation after stepping down as Sweden’s Center Party leader.
After just six months at the helm of the Center Party, Anna-Karin Hatt has officially passed the baton to her successor, Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist—and is now set to draw what may be the highest severance package ever paid to a Swedish party leader. With a monthly salary of 223,000 kronor during her brief tenure—nearly 20,000 kronor more than the prime minister—Hatt is eligible for up to seven months of full salary while she searches for her next role. The payout, totaling close to 1.6 million kronor, will be covered by party members’ dues.
Hatt says the support is necessary as she recovers from what she describes as a difficult period marked by more threats and harassment than she expected. While she avoids going into specifics, she says the experience contributed to her decision to leave the job earlier than planned. For now, the former leader insists the compensation will only be used as long as needed. “I don’t intend to take out a krona more than necessary,” she says, adding that she aims to find a new “socially important task” as soon as possible.
Her successor, Ringqvist, will earn significantly less—161,000 kronor a month, on par with a minister’s salary. Hatt, meanwhile, says she’s not commenting on the size of her own compensation but is “of course grateful” for the breathing room as she navigates what comes next. Despite the abrupt exit, she says she remains optimistic about the party’s future and hopes to continue contributing to Sweden’s development in a new capacity.
Swede-ish Notes
Attribution: SVT Play
Building a Country, Frame by Frame
Sweden loves a good national self-examination, and this fall SVT gives us a particularly architectural one. Så byggdes Sverige—the newest installment in the broadcaster’s mega-project on Swedish history—promises nothing less than a century-long time-travel trip through the nation’s built environment. And yes, there is a DeLorean-style special-effects car involved. Of course there is.
The trio leading us through the journey is wonderfully odd: star architect Gert Wingårdh, architecture critic Mark Isitt, and comedian-slash-Stockholm-guide Petra Mede. Mede may seem like the wildcard, but her enthusiasm for housing and history is genuine—and frankly, a welcome reminder that architecture is not just for architects. It’s where we all live, work, argue, dream, and raise our kids. It is Sweden’s story in concrete and timber.
What makes the show intriguing is how it blends old film reels—colorized and enhanced with AI—with present-day commentary. Suddenly the Sweden of 1925 doesn’t look quite so distant. You see the poverty, the cramped workers’ quarters, the ideals behind the “egnahem,” and the rapid leap from one of Europe’s poorest corners to one of its richest. Mede herself admits she’s stopped romanticizing Södermalm’s “quaint” poverty. Once you step inside those old rooms, she says, it’s hard to be nostalgic.
Perhaps that’s the unexpected charm of the series: it gently nudges us to rethink the stories we tell about Sweden. Not just where we came from, but what we choose to preserve, rebuild, or forget. A century of change framed in eight episodes—worth a coffee break, at least.
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